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MySpace Comments & MySpace Layouts

JPL Learning "The 23 Things"

JPL Learning “The 23 Things” will be back on Monday. If you think you might be interested in learning about some Web 2.0 tools, check out About JPL Learning 2.0 which will give you basic information and has a FAQ sheet to answer your questions.

The lessons will be posted every Monday morning by 9:00. When there is news about or an update to the program, I'll be posting it here.

To make it easier for you to communicate with fellow participants, we have put a “Chat Here” gadget on the “23 Things” blog. You can log in to the chat room using any name you like or using the default which will be a default “guest” username that will look like “guest77891”. Here you will be able to talk to each other about the lessons, help each other with tips and discoveries, and ask for assistance if you get stuck. If you don’t have participants in your branch or department to collaborate with, you can still find others to work with and help each other along. Those who have already finished the program are very welcome to come in to the chat room to help new participants with problems or just impart your wisdom.

Remember you get 9 hours of training credit for completing this program which is a great way to start off your training for the new fiscal year. If you still feel like you don't have all the info you need just email me at kwalker@coj.net, and I'll answer your questions. Karen

"Unshelved" Comic Strip on RSS Feed in JPL Staff News Blog

JPL hosted Bill Barnes, creator of the "Unshelved" comic strip, as one of the speakers at our Staff Training Day this past spring. His comic strip is now available on the RSS feed to the right of this article.

Kudos from Customers

Good service is appreciated by Jacksonville Public Library customers, and several compliments for staff will be listed from different library locations each month:

Main Library – E-Library Reference: Christa Snow was extremely helpful in showing me a new world of data bases full of information!

Regency Square Branch: Lucy Harris has great people skills and is always willing to go the “extra mile” for all of us.

San Marco: Willis Brown was very helpful; a wonderful employee, who went the extra mile. Thank you.

South Mandarin: I frequent this library daily. Not only are the managers polite but every employee I have met. I would like to especially compliment Aracelis Diaz; she greets every customer with a smile and patience.

Willowbranch: My granddaughter, Izzy, and I have attended Arts and Crafts at WB for three years and have been ‘regulars’ ever since due to Isabelle Pierre. Last February, Izzy’s two year old sister joined us for our weekly visit. Ms. Pierre knows children’s needs, is a cheerleader for older children and handles grownups with as much aplomb as she does children.

Annual Benefits Re-enrollment

Important information about Annual Benefits Re-enrollement is available on the COJ Employee News site, link below. During the re-enrollment period of October 1 through October 31, employees can add or delete dependents from their existing insurance coverage; switch plans; or, enroll in various plans, e.g., Employee Supplemental Life (will require Medical Evidence of Insurability), Dependent Life, Vision, Dental, or the Flexible Spending Account ( includes medical reimbursement, dependent care, transportation, and parking). All changes will be made effective January 1, 2009.

Employee News

Inmate Literacy Classes

CAL staffers Jenny Mooney and Karen Wishart provide adult literacy classes for inmates of the Matrix House drug treatment senter.

FY 2009 Library Budget

The City Council approved the budget for all City departments last night at their regular Council session. The vote was 13 in favor and 2 opposed. No changes were made to the budget which the Mayor recommended for the library. The good news is that all of our services will stay as they are this year, with staffing and operations at the same level. Unfortunately, the reduction taken in the library materials budget also still holds. This represents $1M fewer General Revenue dollars for materials. I anticipate we will spend some of our state appropriation dollars on materials but there are not sufficient funds available to "make up" the $1M reduction and so there will be fewer titles and copies of titles purchased in all formats. We also expect to reduce the number of periodical titles we will be able to subscribe to and there will be fewer electronic databases. Unit managers and Charlene Adkins and her staff have been working on what this new, reduced budget will look like and will now move ahead to finalize it.

I want to recognize the tremendous support JPL has received from our Library Board who worked very hard in support of this budget and that of the Friends of the Library who turned in 9,000 signatures to the City Council in support of restoring the "book" budget.

Our customers regularly tell us how important we are to them - in finding a job, keeping up with email or current news in newspapers and magazines, in providing a place to study and a wonderful selection of books, DVD's, CD's and audiobooks (now also downloadable!) for them to read and listen to. As we enter into a new fiscal year it will be important for each of us to retain that community support, to stay customer focused and to become more involved in the communities we serve. Our goal must be a renewed community commitment to ensuring that JPL can continue to be the best it can be!

Barbara

From the Maxville Branch

Every branch can feel like its own little world, mostly because we tend to make it that way, yet we are all a part of JPL and the even greater COJ.

Here, on the far, far Westside of Jacksonville, the boonies (informal for “boondocks” for you city slickers) if you prefer, we at the Maxville branch have decided to reach out on a more personalized level to our patrons in the form of a blog just for them which also partly entertains us. The surrounding area is somewhat more sparsely populated than other locations, but the community is more closely knit, giving it that our-own-little-bitty-world feel.

On our blog, we post news, upcoming events, closings; basically everything that tends to get lost or buried inside the JPL home page because of the vast amount of information available there. We also post things that our particular patrons want to know about: like new materials our branch has received and riddles of the day. Doing all this allows our patrons to quickly access information relevant to them, streamlining communication between us and our slice of the county (and some surrounding counties).

This blog revolves around our world, and you’re welcome to check it out!


Daniel Kibler
Branch Manager


P.S.: Come visit Granny Alfie! She always adores addressing questions!

"Virtual World" Online Conference

The following conference has a fee associated with it. If you wish to apply, submit the "Conference Intent Form" (http://jplstaff.coj.net/training/pol_proc.htm#conf ).

Dear Colleague:
I'm very pleased to call your attention to the lastest online learning opportunities produced by LearningTimes and the Alliance Library System.

It’s a Virtual, Virtual, Virtual, Virtual World…
Join us for two days as we discuss virtual worlds and librarianship. We’ll be convening online on October 1 and 2, 2008 to discuss topics such as:

• -Virtual Worlds Development
• -Scaling Graduate LIS Instruction in Virtual Environments
• -Academic Libraries and Virtual Worlds
• -Building a Library Presence in the Virtual World of Second Life
• -Creating Educational Tools in Second Life for Libraries

A panel of the conference speakers is also scheduled in which your questions will feature prominently. For more information on this first Virtual Librarian Conference please visit:
http://www.thevirtuallibrarian.org/
Enter Discount Code "vlc25"to save $25 on your registration.
----------------
...

Please write to info@learningtimes.net if you have questions about either event.
We hope to see you there!
John Walber
The LearningTimes Team

New City Training for September

Passing on this information from the City's Organizational Development department:

Good morning.

Due to the high demand for training as we reach the end of the fiscal year, we have added two new classes to the schedule for this month:

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: Where the Heart and Mind Meet

Have you ever heard from your supervisor that you are a great performer but that your people skills need some work? Perhaps you have a high IQ but your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient) could use some sprucing. Learn about this revolutionary concept in an eight-hour class packed with activities where you will recognize the effect of EQ on job performance, employ self-management skills to boost leadership and accomplishment, and enhance ability to lead and work collaboratively with others. The course will include the following: (1) Interpret the concept of Emotional Intelligence, (2) Apply EQ at work to enhance work performance, (3) Identify your own EQ and determine how to improve upon it, and (4) Utilize tools and techniques to improve your EQ.

Who will benefit:
Supervisory and non-supervisory professional staff

Date and Time:
Friday, September 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location:
City Hall, Mezzanine Floor, Exam Room #1

Seeing Eye to Eye with Management

Are you finding it hard to complete your assignments due to obstacles on the job? Do you feel you can’t communicate your frustrations and feelings appropriately? Join The Dynamic ICATT Team in this eight-hour course to learn effective techniques to deal with authority with a positive outlook. Some of the objectives include (1) Describe how your skills and preferences assessment impacts your current job, (2) Explain how your personal perceptions impact your job success, and (3) Explain the steps to initiating conflict resolution.

Who will benefit:
All levels of employees. This course is custom developed for field employees.

Date and Time: Tuesday, September 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location: City Hall, Mezzanine Floor, Exam Room #1

Please notify your employees still lacking their training hours for the fiscal year of these course selections. If you have any questions, please contact me.

Thank you for your support. We look forward to seeing you at the Training Coordinator’s Meeting tomorrow at 10:a.m.

Have a great day!

Shawn E. Jeror Administrative AideCity of Jacksonville Organizational Development Office 117 W. Duval Street, Suite M100 Jacksonville, FL 32202
Telephone: (904) 630-7509 Fax: (904) 630-1025

NoveList Training Available Now

To register for one of these webinars to view from your own computer, please 1) get permission from your supervisor, 2) register directly using the link below, and 3) notify jpltraining@coj.net. If you have questions, please send them to jpltraining@coj.net (or feel free to call). -- Richard Mott -- JPL Training Coordinator -- Office: 630-2407

September 2008: Online NoveList Training Sessions Available Now!

Do you feel overwhelmed by the new look of NoveList? Are you looking for the best and easiest ways to search for books when helping your readers?

NoveList is now offering online training sessions, taught by members of the NoveList staff. These one-hour sessions will guide you through navigating and searching in NoveList, NoveList Plus and NoveList K-8. Whether you are a Readers' Advisory librarian or a librarian working with children in a school or public library setting, we have a session to meet your needs.
To sign up for an online training session, go to the EBSCO Support Site and click the "Sign Up For Training" link in the top right corner. At the Training Sign-up page, select one of the following sessions from the Which Service? drop-down menu:

• NoveList
  
• NoveList Plus
  
• NoveList: Working with Juvenile Patrons
  
• NoveList K-8: Using in Schools

Once you select your service the available dates and times for that course will display. Select the session that you would like to attend, fill out your contact information and click the Send Request button.

And remember, additional training and support materials are always available at the Training page in Help. You can quickly link to that page by using the "Tour NoveList" link at the homepage.

News from the Director's Desk

September 17, 2008

Rally Jacksonville. Saturday saw over 3,000 children and parents attend the Rally Jacksonville event in the Main Library and Hemming Plaza – it was a crazy, busy day. 102 new library cards were issued and in addition to registering four year-olds for the Book Club there were other activities including screening for dyslexia, many storytimes for toddlers and preschoolers, the red wagon parade and family art programs. Congratulations to all who were involved in making this such a successful day – those who planned the event, presented programs, set up the conference center for the event, checked out books, registered new library card holders and managed the crowds!

Golden Apple Award won by Jacksonville Public Library. On Friday at the NEFLIN annual meeting Richard Mott accepted NEFLIN’s annual award to JPL, the library with the greatest number of staff attending continuing education classes. JPL also received kudos for partnering with NEFLIN to purchase and use OPAL software to design and push out online training. Kate Holmes has been hard at work designing mini-workshops we can all learn from using OPAL. Look for her notification in email of an upcoming class you can do right at your desktop. I have been elected to the NEFLIN Board of Directors to represent public libraries and attended my first Board meeting last week.

Mark Hohnadel, Manager of the Murray Hill Branch has been selected to attend the Sunshine State Leadership Institute in 2008-2009 – congratulations Mark! Carol Bailey will serve as his mentor. Laura Minor, Genealogy Librarian, Main Library graduated from the program in August.

Learning from Tropical Storm Fay. Thank you for the input you provided on what we did well and what we could do better in handling the closure and re-opening of the libraries when Fay came to town. Here are some of the things we heard and responses:
Staff needs to hear earlier in the day that the library system will be closing down for the storm. We can only tell you what will be happening once it is announced by the Mayor. Unfortunately we did not get any communication that a final decision had been made until the announcement was made on TV at 6 p.m. We lost some time communicating the announcement as some senior staff saw the Mayor on TV but others like me did not, but we began our communication tree as soon as we could. Storms never come at convenient times but we will always do our best to communicate with staff as quickly and efficiently as possible.
You need to do your part by being sure you have given your supervisor your current contact information so that when we have to activate a phone tree we can reach you or a family member with the information.
Book drops. In future you will be asked to lock or tape shut the exterior book drops and put up signs we will send you that customers should not return items until after the emergency and that we will adjust the due date. Many customers left books hanging out of book drops where they got wet and some staff braved the weather to empty the drops which we don’t want to have happen in future.
Where were your “hurricane kits?” Apparently we did not buy enough supplies for each location when the kits were first planned and set up. Luis Flores is purchasing supplies to have a kit for each location. More about these in the revised Emergency Management Plan.
We all need to change the message on our phones – personal and for your location and we need to do a better job of updating our website for those who don’t lose power and can reach the website. In error, the power to the computers handling the website was turned off so the website could not be updated remotely. We won’t do that again! Each of us needs to change the message on our own phone and have a procedure at every location to change the unit’s phone message for the public.
Saturday was pretty overwhelming for all locations with customers ready to get out of the house, check out a new book/DVD, and check their email and so there was little time to handle bookdrops and all those back room tasks that build up after closing for 3 days. We will delay opening on the first day “back” and allow time for staff to prepare the library so they can then focus on customers.

You will find all these issues and more addressed in the revised Emergency Management Plan. Luis and his staff are updating the Plan and will provide training throughout the system during the fall and spring before next year’s Hurricane season.

Library Budget for FY 2009. There is no “new” news about the Library’s budget for the new fiscal year. It remains as the Mayor proposed it with all hours of service as they are currently, the same level of staffing, city funding for all the costs of security services at a level which has a few more hours than the current year, and a materials budget of $3.6M down from $4.6M. In October the Library Board will approve the allocation of our state aid grant and will allocate funds from this grant for library materials bringing that budget up to at least $4M. Members of both the Library Board and Library Friends have worked hard on the Library’s behalf for a restoration of the funds for materials and we are grateful for their commitment and support.

Our community continues to show its support for the services you provide: through July there is a 7% YTD increase in circulation with 9 libraries seeing double digit increases. Gate count is up 4% YTD and web site usage up 20% YTD. There is a 45% increase in meeting room use and with a re-arrangement in the location of their self-check machines Webb Wesconnett’s customers are now checking out 80% of their items on self check!

Pharos Upgrade. Over the next two weeks staff from ITD will be visiting every library to re-image your public computers and upgrade the Pharos print management system. This project has been in development since last fall so it will be an achievement to have it completed. Lynn Jacobson is managing the project for JPL.

Destination:leadership has six new staff trainers. Thank you and congratulations on your selection to Marshelle Berry, Library Supervisor, Regency Square; Robbie Crabtree, LA, San Marco; Kate Holmes, Librarian, Training; Susan Mankowski, Early Childhood Specialist, Youth Services; Laurie Mills, Library Associate, Webb Wesconnett; and Karen Wishart, Literacy Program Specialist, CAL.

If you have questions or comments you can comment on the staff blog or send me an email.

Barbara Gubbin

JPL Learning 2.0

If you’ve finished the “23 Things” and you’d like to check and make sure your completion has been credited, go to the JPL Participants page. Your completion date is next to your blog name.

I kept track of the participants progress through the lesson instruction (generally something like this) “Post a comment to this blog with a link to your blog post.” If you didn’t post for all the discovery exercises that requested a post or didn’t post under a name I could connect to your blog, you may not be credited. If you think you should have a completion date next to your blog name, you should email me and we’ll get it sorted out (kwalker@coj.net).

You have until September 15 to finish and get training credit this year. The lessons will be back on October 13. You can pick up where you left off and get training credit for the 9 hours next year so if you don’t get finished, don’t worry. You won’t have to start over.

We will be distributing the MP3 players soon after we have the final list of those completing the program. I’ll let you know as soon as I know! Thanks to everyone who participated and to all of you who are finishing up your final posts. Karen

Email Campaign Prize Winners!

Welcome to circulation corner~

This month I am pleased to talk about the Email Campaign...

The staff at the South Mandarin Regional Library were the winners of a six month campaign to increase the percentage of customers that have email addresses on their accounts. The JPL overall increase was 14% and SOM topped the list of locations at 25%!!!!!! The prize was a "take-over" of the winning location for two hours by a team from JPL Administration. The staff at SOM had no idea what would happen when the team showed up. In addition to me, the branch was handled by: Carolyn Williams, Gretchen Mitchell, Laura Kline, Diane Moser, Kathy Graw and Susan Mankowski. Unfortunately, Barbara Gubbin had to attend a last minute budget meeting but was there in spirit.

Here are some highlights:

The staff was presented with a basket of sugar to help ease their nerves. What would happen to SOM?

Chef Susan expertly filled in presenting a program (Why did we choose an early release day?) Kathy Graw and Susan did an amazing job handling the chilren's department and program!

The staff wanted to make sure we knew what we were doing!

Their fears were soon put to rest. Laura took over the Reference Desk! She was soon joined by Ms. Williams who helped handle the mob.

When Diane said "What is workflows?" we got a little nervous, but she was just kidding. She jumped right in and even helped customers with Self-Check!

Diane, Gretchen and I all had a great time!

In the end, we all felt privileged to work at South Mandarin. Several customers commented on the courteous, helpful staff at that location~

Thank you all for allowing us to come and see the hard work you all do on a daily basis. And congratulations!

Congratulations to Barbara Gubbin!

Congratulations to Barbara Gubbin, recently elected to the Board of NEFLIN as a representative of large public libraries!

From the Training Office …HELP MAKE STAFF DAY GREAT

We Need YOU. Hard-working, creative souls needed to help plan a most excellent Staff Development Day for 2009. I’ve got some ideas that I think will make next year’s event one of the most beneficial we’ve had in years, but you may have better ones! Would you consider being a part of the Staff Day Planning Committee? It will be your most rewarding experience ever. It will change your life. You will develop bonds that will last a lifetime. You will laugh. You will cry. Field trips include sky diving, deep sea fishing, a Broadway play, and whale spotting. It’s a non-stop thrill ride. What do you say? Get permission from your supervisor, then send an e-mail to jpltraining@coj.net to let us know of your interest (“Cc” your supervisor).

Two Ways to Help. The greatest commitment (the one described above) is to serve on the Committee. We will meet for 2-3 hours monthly between now and April. Some meetings may be held remotely. PLUS you would be committing to perhaps an hour or two of work on average at your location on your specific assignment (some weeks less; some weeks more) and communicating with the committee via e-mail, discussion board, possibly a blog.

The second opportunity demands ZERO time away from your home location. The last couple of years we have assigned location liaisons from every branch & unit and this year we want to expand your role even more. You’ll have two main functions: 1) sharing your ideas and giving feedback on proposals for Staff Development Day; and 2) assisting with communication between the committee and the staff at your location – making sure they meet deadlines, relaying to us their questions, suggestions, and concerns, etc.

As a location liaison you will participate in monthly or bi-monthly one-hour web meetings (We’ll use OPAL, our e-Learning & e-Meeting web application), plus read and respond to e-mails and discussion board postings, etc.

If you are interested in serving in either capacity, please get permission from your supervisor, then send an e-mail to jpltraining@coj.net to let us know of your interest (“Cc” your supervisor).

Thanks!

Kudos from Customers

Each month we will be highlighting several compliments from customers for JPL employees:

Argyle Branch: "DeLon Rowan in the children’s room created a wonderful nature display of local leaves, seeds, barks, log cross sections, etc. It encourages interaction and reading.”

Beaches Branch: “Katherine Daye in the reference department is the best! She’s patient and competent."

Highlands Branch: “Vickie Leonard has been so helpful; thank you so much for all your hard work.”

Main Library: “My daughter and I received excellent service from Mr. Jaskula and those in children’s section.”

Pablo Creek Branch: “How courteous and friendly Stephanie Harley was as she helped me to check out!”

Southeast Branch: “Crystal Kadkhodaie opened ‘in transit’ boxes and found the hold book for me in time for my flight!”

Friends of the Bradham-Brooks Northwest Branch Library

Staff Profile

Antoinette Marie Walker is a Library Assistant at the West Regional Branch.

Q: How long and where all have you worked at JPL?
A: Five years. I started at Mandarin, was sent to Webb-Wesconnett and transferred to West Regional.

Q: What do you look forward to most on the weekends?
A: Going to the movies with my husband.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your family.
A: Aaron is my husband of 23 years, and I have a daughter, Arianne, 23 years old; son, Antonio, 20 years old, and daughter, Andrea, 17 years old.

Q: What’s one thing that people probably don’t know about you?
A: I am a genealogy/historian buff. I have traced our family tree to the early 1800's just by asking questions of my family elders & verifying documents when possible.

Q: What books are you reading?
A: Nothing at the moment; I'm busy trying to get accepted into an accelerated degree program.

Q: What’s the best part about working at JPL?
A: Seeing a child's face light up when I find that "must have" book for them!